Barry Hawkins stormed into the Quarter-Finals of the 2017 Dafabet Masters following a comprehensive 6-1 rout of Shaun Murphy at the Alexandra Palace on Wednesday night.

Last year’s finalist got his mission to go the extra step off to an emphatic start with breaks of 77, 89 and 85 setting up a last-eight clash with world number one Mark Selby, as Murphy suffered his second consecutive First Round exit from snooker’s most prestigious invitational event.

“I’m pleased with that performance,” Hawkins said after the game.

“It’s a shame I didn’t have a century but overall I think I played pretty solid and I’m delighted to beat Shaun.

“My attitude was good tonight and I’m pleased I finished off the match. I’m surprised with the scoreline but obviously I’ll take it.

“I just have to keep doing what I’m doing and we’ll see what happens,” he added.

A fluked opening red saw Hawkins, from Ditton near Maidstone, make 42 in the first frame, before a further 28 edged his nose in front after the Magician missed a fairly straightforward black.

The Hawk, who had won just one of the eight previous showdowns between the players, continued his flying start with a run of 77 doubling the lead, while he dominated the third before a neat 89 gave him a commanding 4-0 advantage at the mid-session interval.

Murphy, who lifted the Masters trophy here two years ago to the day, saw his fortunes continue to falter after the break.

Usually so proficient with the rest, his general consistency evaded him as he missed a red to the corner pocket and Hawkins pounced with a wonderful 85 clearance for 5-0.

The former champion looked to fight back from the brink of defeat and, despite allowing Hawkins back into it, a nice break of 60 was eventually enough for him to avert the whitewash and he pumped his fist to the crowd in relief.

However, it proved to be a false dawn for the world number five, as the Hawk swooped in the next with a run of 50 getting the job done.